I nudged her gently. “Justnice?” I teased.
But she didn’t laugh. “You’re everything, Chase. You always have been.”
For a second, I didn’t speak. I just tried to hold on to this moment, the way she looked so soft and dreamy with her heart wide open.
I brushed a piece of hair away from her face. “Then let yourself have everything I have to give you.” I held her gaze. “I love you, Anna. I never stopped.”
She answered with her lips, leaning in and kissing me. She was giving me all of her. When she pulled back, her cheeks were damp with tears. “Oh, God, Chase. I love you, too. So much.”
I felt her fingers slide into my hair as ourmouths met once again. I wrapped my arms around her waist. She shifted, pressing even closer, and a soft sound escaped her throat. It was enough to undo my last shred of patience. I wanted her like never before.
I lifted her, and her legs immediately wrapped around my waist as I carried her up the porch steps. We didn’t make it past the living room. Her back hit the wall as I kissed her like I couldn’t get enough—because I couldn’t. I never would. Her fingers slid under my shirt, which I pulled over my head and dropped to the floor. Hers was fast to follow.
I didn’t want to rush. But I didn’t think I had it in me to be patient much longer, either.
I scooped her up, loving the way she laughed softly against my neck as I carried her to our room. There would be no more cabin for her. Ever. She was mine, and she was here to stay.
“Say it again,” I demanded as I set her on the bed.
She leaned back, pulling me down on top of her. “I love you. I love you. I love you. I’ll say it forever, just as my heart always has, even when we weren’t together.”
Slowly, then more urgently, clothes disappeared. Her shirt, my jeans, her pants and underwear, then mine, until our bodies were stretched naked against each other.
“I want you so fucking bad, I can’t see straight,” I murmured against her lips before trailing them across her collarbone and through the valley between her breasts. When I reached the gentle curve of her lower stomach, I lingered, pressing kisses with extra care.
She stilled ever so slightly, but I felt it. I knew what this place meant. What it would never hold. I kissed her there again. I needed her to know she wasn’t broken. Wasn’t any less.
“We’ll still have a family,” I said, my voice barely more than a breath. “We’ll have one in all the ways that matter.”
She went completely still. “Chase,” she breathed.
When I looked at her, her eyes were glassy, but she was smiling. “I know. I believe you,” she murmured.
“God, I love you.”
“I believe that, too.” She smiled at me.
My patience snapped. I wanted her.
She let out a breathy little moan that became a loud groan as I buried my face between her legs and lapped her slit. Nails raked against my head as she bucked beneath me. I slid first one, then two fingers inside her heat. She cried out when I curled them. Her eyes closed, and her mouth fell open as she came hard, clenching around my fingers.
“So damn beautiful,” I crooned. Then I returned to her with my tongue. Her legs trembled around my head as I drove her to another orgasm.
I was as hard as I’d ever been. Her eyes finally cracked open as I took myself in hand and gave a stroke. Her hand reached out and took over. Her fingers curled around my length, her thumb brushing the tip, smearing the white bead that had already formed.
“Not gonna last with you touching me, Blossom,” I muttered.
She opened her legs in invitation. “Then don’t wait.”
I sank into her, groaning as her heat surrounded me. “So fucking good.”
She rocked her hips against mine, and any gentleness I felt snapped. I drove into her, over and over, as her legs wrapped around my hips. “Touch yourself,” I demanded. “Make yourself come again. With me.”
I groaned as she obeyed, and as soon as I felt her begin to quiver, I let go, shouting her name as I came harder than Iever had. I collapsed against her, her arms holding me close as our breaths slowly returned to normal. I rolled to my side, taking her with me. Her head rested on my chest while my hand stroked slow circles on her back.
She let out a long sigh and tilted her head just enough to meet my eyes. “I didn’t think I’d ever have this again.”
I kissed her slowly. “Never letting go again.”
